artofthecoupon.com

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I, like most bloggers probably, check Google Webmaster (not to mention my google ads account and my feedburner stats and my page rank, etc. etc. etc.) at a frequency that borders on obsessive.  My stats had not updated for a while, up until yesterday.  Then, yesterday I checked and not only had they updated, but I had a wonderful surprise.  People, real actual people out there in the world, subscribed to MY blog using google subscriptions.  You have no idea how exciting it is for me that some of you found me interesting enough to actually click that little button and subscribe!! So thanks, to those of you who subscribed— you made my day.  And for the rest of you, well, if you want to make me even happier than just click here to subscribe too, and help the blog grow.  Oh, and I’m also always interested in comments and suggestions for posts  Anyway, thanks again for reading (and subscribing and making my day!)   

Over the past few years, I’ve managed to get my desire to Keep up with the Jones’ pretty much under control.  I avoid going to malls or places where I am apt to see things I want, I try not to look at other peoples kitchens or remodeled homes or fancy new cars, and I continually remind myself to be satisfied with what I have.  However, yesterday my fiance came home with a brand new Blackberry courtesy of his employer, and all my financial resolve and common sense went right out the window.  

(more…)

Mrs. Micah issued a challenge to her readers to “Find one step you can take to make your financial system better or more organized.” 

My step that I took was to set up a free account at mint.com.  I have tried out a lot of different money management software in the past, and I have never been happy with it, but Mint came highly recommended and so I decided to give it a go.   (more…)

CNN Money has a series of articles regarding how American’s got into debt, which refers to Swelling Debt & Sleepless Nights.  Brittney Bellessa, the person whose story I read in the article, discussed her fears regarding what will happen when her husbands student loan debts become due.  Similarly, a lot of people who commented at iwillteachyoutoberich.com got into debt because of their quest to get an education.  This, of course, is my story too- our combined $250K debt load comes almost entirely from student loans.  However, a problem that we’ve been grappling with (and I suspect we aren’t alone here) is that debt breeds more debt.  So, student loan debt (which most people agree is good debt to some degree, because it has the potential to create increased income which provides a good return on your investment) can unfortunately lead to all sorts of other debt problems.   (more…)

My fiance and I lived together for about a year before we started keeping our money together.  Like most couples, a lot of our squabbles were financial.  There were issues as to how the rent was divided (I was earning much less and subsisting partly on student loans) and who paid for what.  There was controversy surrounding who contributed more financially, and what should and shouldn’t be common expenses.  The stress was compounded by the fact that I thought he spent more money than I felt was appropriate given our debt load.   (more…)

I just started reading a great book, called Generation Debt: Why Now is a Terrible Time to be Young.  I’m only a chapter and a half in, but I already am really loving this book.  The first chapter dealt with student loans and the cost of education.  It addressed how the student loan market evolved, and gave a brief summary of why the college financial aid system is currently so messed up (for lack of a better word).  The book combines personal stories with statistics, and political hsitory in a very interesting way.  

(more…)

My dogs are my fur-kids (until we have real kids, anyway), so I want them to have the best of everything.  However, pet ownership is very expensive.  And, after doing some research I found that many of the things that were adding to my monthly budget were unnecessary, and in some cases even harmful.

Here are 10 frugal pet care tips that don’t scrimp on the health or happiness of our furry friends, and in some cases can actually make their lives better.   (more…)

For the last year or so, I’ve been trying to approach spending and purchasing in a new way.  I’ve made an unwritten rule for myself that I don’t buy anything that isn’t absolutely necessary, unless I either

   1. Find it for at least 40% off the price    I originally wanted it for or
   2. Find a way to pay for it without                                                                          impacting my regular paycheck, or
                                                                 3. Preferably both.

(more…)

Today, I spent 1/2 an hour holding and dealing with Sallie Mae on the telephone.  I wanted to increase my monthly payment.  They scheduled me to pay $457 a month for 10 years.  I wanted to change it to $547 a month for a few reasons: partly because it used the same numbers and that seemed nice and neat; partly because then it is almost exactly equivalent to the fixed expenses my fiance pays each month so it would be easier for us to ensure we’re each paying back an equal amount of our debt each month, and of course the main reason was this will reduce my payment time by 28 months.  Thats over 2 years less that I will have to pay, for an extra $90 a month.   (more…)

I have seen a lot of articles and discussion (especially recently) regarding lowering energy usage and costs. This type of conservation is beneficial to the environment and our pocket books. However, I’m surprised at the absence of discussion of Home Automation in these energy-saving articles. Granted some home automation systems are complicated and expensive to install, especially in existing builds. However, X10 home automation is relatively simple and easy, even for a non-techie, and it can be relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other energy saving products discussed (like these energy saving power strips for example!)  Plus you can do some really cool stuff, while saving energy at the same time. (more…)